commission. mary frances berry. c-span2.

start with compared to the union 22. that was a tough road to hoe but if it is not as much paid attention to because 4 million wear black or slave so when it came time to mobilize the not have access to 10 million but a

white population of 6 million, half for women and half for under age. the demographics were tough to start. >>host: how many white males? >>guest: i tried to figure out how many of of voting age. that link was pretty tight and with the voting age white men with 18 through 35 by the end it is 18 to 55. >>host: what advantages besides cotton, we hear about that for years what are the advantages? >> as lee said they were overwhelmed by the

industrial north of slave labor south than two-thirds of the capital is with enslaved human beings. they had to ship out across the embargo. and then they could list the things that they don't have. with a lot of faith just says they made the united states when it was they could secede to make this other country in independent to build a nation states on the basis of cotton and slaves. they talk about this a lot about secession and compare them solves with terms of population the value of the

trade. the confederacy is often misunderstood. there we're losing. they did take a gamble but they're the only slave building class. the ku been slaveholders denied duet. and also that is an interesting question and. what is the mindset? it is fascinating to get inside the mind not just social power and wealth but political power. they did not doubt their ability to do this separately. is a big piece of the story. >>host: was there

overwhelming support? >> no. it is an interesting political campaign. i have read about it three of four times it is as interesting as any campaign. karl rove would be impressed. most said the political elites only one-third owned slaves and most did not own any bets the deep south was confident they could do this and that they could pull it off. they had no trouble lining each other but it was a white man democracy. they had to sell its. they were not all confident. with paramilitary violence

and intimidation. they called the convention by lunchtime on the first day unanimous. but what preceded that if you're in a meeting everything is unanimous don't you get suspicious? i do. other places it showed. in alabama the representatives charge they were run added of the union the they were being violated. that no ordinary farmer. the elites has run us out. it is very revealing of what democracy has been.

they often and made the case what they really wanted was a republic. they did not like the way of politics but they had to play the game but they strongarm it ran through and to then the normal democratic process none of those seceded intel for sumpter was fired upon. even then there were four states that seceded it was incredibly contentious. and the confederacy would fight with the 11 instead of 15. you already see them

breaking off as part of the slave south. >>host: did jefferson davis ever win an election? >>guest: he was a senator. he was nominated at the constitutional convention of montgomery alabama. i don't take he did stand for election. but the confederate constitution it was a replica. there was no one term executive that may have spent a five-year to avoid reelection. >>host: professor mccurry was there a lot of political

infighting during the war in the south? >> yes there was. the confederacy so quickly was on the ropes things that were planned never materialized. with the political opposition theoretically ever betty was a democrat. you could not vote for abraham lincoln. perhaps in virginia. and during the of war some were profoundly opposed on good grounds the davises ministrations was the most centralized federal a

concentrated power in the entire american history. one looked at the union government and the structure of the state's and the confederacy and said that was the lead by a fine state. the united states never had a government that big until the new deal. fin day had to build this enormous central state. think of that. they passed taxes within a year. and agents of the federal government literally taking food out of people's barnes. the only way to feed the army. that is fascinating that the

slaveholders go to war to protect slavery than they think the new government will protect their slaves during war but it turns out they needs to use them to win the war. added it is an enormous tussle the also wrote a clause in the constitution that congress could never abolish slavery. they had a problem of sovereignty. they could not reach the slaves. they cannot reach them without the permission of the owner. they had codified the status of slaves as private property. can you imagine they were mortgaged up to the eyeballs. they all must talk about the angle, the powerful ally and

to say slays don't like to do the work for personal reasons but because they don't want to do any during the union. the most interesting is watching the psychology of the slaveholders. where the desires or objectives with a master's of business from the minute lincoln is elected they notice a difference in the behavior of the slaves. one thing i did different is a used the plantation records to think slavery is an element of strength to

put every white man into the war and as soon as they try to do that they will not slated stage send their slaves to communicate with the enemy to guide it through the swamps it is fascinating that human struggle for the seizing of history with the high in the intimate struggle and children is an amazing part of this story. not one that often makes it into the documentary. it is absolutely epic and compelling. >>host: what about the southern white women?

>> i have worked on this manhole career as a historian to say will be really go on to write history like women don't matter? and the confederacy obviously women don't go. that does not mean that they don't have opinions. but to be a symbol of the nation when they were against secession and they divide along the same lines. many stage many women but there are some new thinking is a crazy idea. sometimes more rational and pragmatic not glory but

that's. the where the women stepping into the making of history and confederacy has to do with the demographics. they go to war against the union. we know after mcclellan got the boot grant and sherman running the show, one was to bring more and more men to press that confederacy's simultaneously. it reduce the ability to move men around. you can track it the confederacy with white men historians think between 75

and 85% between volunteering but there are not many others. my colleagues say are you sure? by the end it was 1555. what does the whole front look like? the other thing to keep in mind when men leap women go into the field. the always have. but they were supplementing the labor now they do it on their own. i write about me the way they become especially at

the state level baster to besieged the government with letters, but it starts off on the home front of the then they get angry and they would say we will bring the deserters and the guerrillas but in the and the confederacy has a starvation level crisis and they know it is coming. governors and county clerks are right to each other. they cannot take any more food out of the county's. they are starting. the women step been and really start attacking the for confederate government there really is though woman's fight but the women

step up and start to reroute power, they make themselves a powerful constituency and there is a wave of food riots and more than one dozen food riots sweep the confederacy and enrichment is 300 followed by a crowd of 1,000. the press thinks it is a conspiracy. they have conspiracy theories. in richmond to the mayor indicted them to show when women organized this. she called them to a public

meeting and told them to come to the market, leave children at home and, armed. they did. day lifted up though wharf and the warehouses. they tried to stop the telegraph line. the union was just gloating. it must be the and. so they step into the making of history to they put them on notice if they take the men they have to answer to them. is an important political momentum. >>host: what was the level of desertion? >>guest: it remember the numbers but higher than the

union but they had a desertion problem. they struggled mightily with desertion with the union of armed guerrilla bands. of those states that i told you about that did stay with the converters-- confederacy no other place because when the davis administration makes the governor's got after the men who refuse to serve or who have deserted deserted, and they try clemency. they also send out troops. then they cannot find them. the only people they could find our though women. they torture them. have you seen the movie cold

mountain? and uses documents from the north carolina archives that describes a torture of the unionist women to extract information of the whereabouts of their men and they find the men and sometimes they execute them on the road or other times they would subject them to procedures. the thing about the confederacy is they are constantly deploying troops to prevent slaves from running away to the enemy. they have to divert troops to contain the deserters. they have no extra troops. the pressure on them by late 1860's for, the secretary of

war says there are no more white men to be had for by that point* the conversation starts seriously if they use black soldiers. that is bizarre but the perfect arc of justice slavery is an element of strength that we have to consider emancipating slaves to force them to in last. that is another story. they don't contemplate emancipation act of the goodness of their heart. by the end to some people were willing to invest slave men but the confederate congress and a major stage legislation refuse to write the emancipation clause they wanted them to serve while they were slaves. the demographics that you ask them are intimately connected with the political

challenges and failure of the confederacy. but to say let's talk about the confederacy and ask why did they do that? could they take the project seriously? also the reckoning in the end to say this is a of military defeats with the political ambition of that project not simply because of what the union did that their own people. they mean white southerners. to talk about the southcom

the white woman, enslaved and trying to bring human beings into this story to say all people played a part not just the union army but the connection between the actions within the confederacy and the military pressures they're really explain what happened. >>host: you one of frederick douglass book prize and a finalist for the pulitzer and university of pennsylvania. professor mccurry.

thank-you. >> man well is a correspondent for the "washington post" and the author of the rise of margot rubio. what is the appeal of marco rubio? >> a talented or greater but he represents an opportunity to see how a hispanic politician will play at the national level. of person that people outside the republican party will be watching to get a sense is a latino politician who can broaden the base outside of the community's. >>host: is he running for

president? >> who is into and they are elected to the senate? [laughter] he is ambitious, rising very quickly and has established himself in a hurry as a voice of consequence on major issues such as immigration. no question people within the infrastructure looked to him as somebody to place on the short best. >> that but how far away was the? >> it is a secret process. everyone who claims what is going on the private they may not. but but to say typically it

is not something we see very often. the recognition from the irani campaign they needed to reach out to the hispanic offers those who were not but they became a zero because they have this fascinating personal story. here is somebody whose family stretches back to of palm thatched hut in cuba. they have a grandson now at the press of was at the pinnacle of greatness of american politics, it is an extraordinary story and people have recognized that. >>host: did the senator cooperate with the writing of your book? >>guest.

he did not. but dozens of others did. it allowed me not just to get the three dimensional look from a little bit of a distance but it's also puts me into the national archives. a story that was more complicated from the time of conception. >>host: how much does he controlled his image and accessibility? >> you will lose control of the image because so many people talk about you. they can establish a persona and to newspapers and magazines taking a crack at

framing who you are and what you are. it is only inevitable the image the public can consume would take on more facets' than even he would like to take on the? >>